The Albeşti Limestone: a geoheritage and cultural heritage in Romania

ABSTRACT The paper explores and documents the Eocene limestones from the Albeşti village (Argeş County, Romania) in terms of the relationship between geology, geoheritage and cultural heritage. Known as the Albeşti Limestone/Stone, this rock, extracted from small quarries, has been used for centuries in the construction of an impressive number of public buildings, monuments, houses, etc. Nowadays, many of them are on the List of the Historical Monuments of Romania; one is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site (Horezu Monastery, Vâlcea County). The findings of this research are synthesized and presented in several maps resulted from integration of published and unpublished data with our field survey. The study emphasis the Albeşti Limestone both as an important geoheritage (the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve, established in 1954) and a significant heritage stone of national interest that could have a substantial role in heritage preservation, geoeducation, and geotourism development.


Introduction
Geoheritage is a term referring to significant features of geology and geomorphology 'that are intrinsically important sites or culturally important sites offering information or insights into the evolution of the Earth' or illustrating Earth and climate processes (Brocx & Semeniuk, 2007).In the last two decades, numerous works on geoheritage have been published (Brilha, 2016;Herrera-Franco et al., 2022;Reynard & Brilha, 2018;Telbisz et al., 2021).
Unlike geoheritage, the concept of cultural heritage is much older.In this regard, we mention the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) which designed an International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, known as The Venice Charter -1964.Adopted by ICO-MOS in 1965, the charter provides definitions and terminology related to historic monuments, conservation, restoration, and excavation (ICOMOS, 1965).From Stone Age tools to the present-day monumental buildings, natural stone was closely linked to human development.Due to the fact that natural stone was and still is one of the main building materials, it can be said that, during the history, stone linked geology and architecture (Cooper, 2019;Corbí et al., 2019;Freire-Lista & Fort, 2019;Přikryl & Török, 2010).Panizza and Piacente (2009) analyse the term cultural geomorphology and propose a definition of it: 'a discipline that studies the geomorphological component of a territory and which embodies both a culture feature of the landscape and its interactions with cultural heritage (archaeological, historical, architectonic etc.)'.Reynard and Giusti (2018) in a study on the landscape and the cultural value of the geoheritage, discuss the multiple links between geoheritage and culture.The authors emphasize the ways through which geological heritage and culture are integrated.A review paper of the themes linking geoheritage and cultural heritage was recently presented by Pijet-Migoń and Migoń (2022).The authors identify different themes (e.g.'added cultural value to the geoheritage sites, geoheritage in urban spaces, cultural landscapes, and the contribution of geoheritage to their identity, mining and quarrying heritage, linkages with natural disasters') and, as a key research priority, they propose action to promote the geoheritage as a foundation value for cultural heritage.
Our study focuses on the relationship between geology, geoheritage and cultural heritage in the main study area (Câmpulung-Albești-Cândești area, Argeș County) (Maps A and B, Supplemental Material) and beyond in dozens of localities in Romania.The main element of the link between geology and culture is the Eocene nummulitic limestone from the area of the Albeşti village.Known for centuries for stone quarrying and carving, it is located nearby the Câmpulung locality the capital of Wallachia (in Romanian: Valahia or Ţara Românească), back in the fourteenth century.
This work is the result of a multidisciplinary research.In order to accomplish a general overview of the scientific and cultural importance of this rock, various data have been used: published and unpublished papers, geological and topographic maps, aerial images, historical and architectural data, etc.A GIS (Geographic Information System) based mapping procedure was employed to build a complex database containing a wide range of data, from the rock quarries up to the final destination of the extracted rocks.To identify the old quarry locations, we employed flights using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to produce both high-resolution imagery and Digital Terrain Model (DTM)/ Digital Surface Model (DSM).The database was subsequently used mainly for drawing various maps meant to (i) illustrate the geology and the geological heritage of the main research area, and (ii) the spatial distribution of historical monuments in which the Albeşti limestones were used.
The paper is organized as follows: a brief presentation of the geomorphological setting, followed by a description of data and methods used in our study; the obtained results are structured in four parts (geological background; nature reserve; stone quarrying and carving; stone heritage).The main text contains eight figures (Figure 1-8); the supplemental material contains seven maps (Map A to Map G).

Study area
The study area (Câmpulung-Albești-Cândești, Argeș County) is located in the Southern Subcarpathians close to the limit with the Southern Carpathian Mountains (Map A), in a relatively low-land and gently relief, known as Câmpulung Depression (Mihăilescu, 1966).The hydrographic network flows generally from north to south being separated by parallel ridges.The elevation and slope are spatially distributed in close connection with lithology.The Câmpulung Depression (part of Getic Subcarpathians) is characterized by relatively low-elevation terrain, which usually does not exceed 700-800 m in elevation, bordered from all parts (especially to the north and to the south) by higher areas (Figure 1 and Map B).In the northern part, where the Subcarpathians came into contact with the Carpathian Mountains, there is an evident change in morphology due to the differences in rock strength (sedimentary deposits to the south, metamorphic rocks to the north).Further to the north, the high peaks of the Iezer-Păpuşa Mountains rise above 2000 elevation.To the south, the depression is closed by hills with peaks that exceed 800 m elevation.
Many parts of the Câmpulung Depression consist of alluvial plain and alluvial terraces of the main three rivers that cross the region, namely Râul Târgului, and two of its right tributaries, Bughea and Bratia (Figure 1 and Map B).Some of the ridges have low-elevation saddles which, over time, have facilitated an easy connection between localities.

Data and methods
We used various data to accomplish a general overview of the scientific and cultural importance of the Albeşti Limestone: published papers, geological maps, including maps published more than a century ago (Figure 2), geological reports, old topographic maps, aerial images, data about museum collections and many textual data from historians and archaeologists.
The geological and palaeontological data were acquired from different sources.An almost exhaustive references list was prepared aiming to find any data (petrological, palaeontological, stratigraphical data) related to Albeşti Limestone.Fieldwork was carried out in the Câmpulung-Albeşti-Cândeşti area and in many other places (e.g.Bucharest citycapital of Romania; Curtea de Argeş town and Piteşti city in Argeş County; Romanii de Jos village, Horezu town in Vâlcea County; Viforâta village in Dâmboviţa County; Ploieşti city in Prahova County, Sâmbăta de Sus village in Braşov County).Except for the three photos presented in section 4.3, all the others (including the aerial images) were taken by the authors of this paper.
During this study, a database (in a GIS-based environment) with buildings, monuments, crosses and other constructions that used limestone from Albești quarries was built.The database includes a construction even if the limestone was used only for some ornaments or entrance steps.For the historical monuments, data were collected from various geological and historical publications as well as from public data provided by the National Heritage Institute (Institutul Național al Patrimoniului in Romanian) to which we added our observations and findings.We managed to visit a significant number of them.Some scattered information was found in some publications (e.g.Bleahu et al., 1976;Bombiță et al., 1980;Ilie, 1969a;Pârnuță & Trâmbaciu, 1999;Popa et al., 1985;Popescu-Argeșel, 2000).The database was used to draw maps with the spatial distribution of constructions for which the limestone from Albești was used.
The authors of present work were able to find some topographic maps from different periods on which little pieces of information related to stone quarries were noticed (Table 1).
In this study, we used various data in order to draw the presented maps.For Map B, which was drawn at a scale of 1:25,000, we used aerial imagery (orthophotoplans) at 50 × 50 cm resolution (source: National Agency for Cadaster and Land Registration -NACLR) as well as some information from the topographic map at scale 1:25,000 (source: Topographic Department of Army -TDA).For the area with limestone quarries, this detail of the geospatial data was not enough.Some information was acquired from topographic plans at a scale of 1:10,000 (source: NACLR, n.d.) (Table 1), on which the edges of the quarries are very accurate, but the topographic plans were drawn in the 1970s, thus in a time when there were still active quarries.
However, to identify more precisely the old quarry sites, we employed flights using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to produce both high-resolution imagery and Digital Terrain Model (DTM)/Digital Surface Model (DSM).For this purpose, we used a DJI Mavic 2 Pro (equipped with a 20MP camera) combined with Universal Ground Control Station (UgCS) software for flight planning (SPH Engineering, n.d.).The optimal resolution was set to 5 cm which is very suitable for this purpose.The area covered by the flight contained 636 images.Data images were processed using Drone2Map software (ESRI Inc.); the obtained orthophotos, DTM and DSM, cover 2.59 km 2 .The drone products were integrated into a GIS environment for mapping purposes.For this part of the study, we used both ArcGIS 10.8 and ArcPro 2 to produce and analyze the maps.

Geological background
Geologically, the Câmpulung Depression is part of the Getic Depression (the Southern Carpathian foredeep), a sedimentary basin formed at the contact between South Carpathian nappe pile and Moesian Platform.The basin is filled with Uppermost Cretaceous to Neogene sediments (Săndulescu, 1984;Rabagia & Maţenco, 1999).
In the study area, the oldest rocks belong to three Precambrian metamorphic formations namely: the Voineşti Formation (gneisses and plagioclase gneisses with minor augen gneisses and amphibolite layers), the Bughea Formation (mainly mica schists and amphibolites) and the Lereşti Formation (muscovitechlorite schists with albite porphyroblasts, mica schists and amphibolites).An almost continuous layer of granite (the Albeşti Granite) occurs in the upper part of the Voineşti Formation (Gheuca & Dinică, 1984, 1986) (Figure 3 and Map C).
The metamorphic formations are overlaid by Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (limestones, conglomerates, sandstones, marls).As it can be seen in Figure 3, in and around the villages of Cândeşti and Albeşti, and further to the Câmpulung town, the geology is dominated by sedimentary rocks of Cenozoic age.
To note that the Eocene deposits lie directly on the crystalline rocks or on the Upper Cretaceous ('Senonian') marls; they are discordantly covered by Miocene sedimentary deposits.Regarding the Eocene nummulitic limestones, they outcrop in the hills between Bratia (to the West) and Bughea (to the East) rivers (Ștefănescu et al., 1965, 1983) (Figure 3 and Map C).

Albești Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve
On the Romanian territory there are 975 protected natural areas of national interest and 18 protected natural areas of international interest.They form the omanian's Network of Protected Natural Areas (http://ananp.gov.ro/ariile-naturale-protejate-ale-romaniei/).One of these protected natural areas is the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve.In order to underline the features of the Eocene sedimentary deposits, and especially of nummulitic limestones, bellow it is presented data concerning their characteristics, including a brief overview of their study.
The first study on the geology of our main research area (Map C) and in particular on the nummulitic limestones (Figure 4(a,b)) had been written more than a century and half ago.The Nummulitic limestone was the first work (unpublished report) of Gregoriu Ștefănescu (in 1864), professor of geology and palaeontology at the University of Bucharest.The report, underlying the importance of that limestone for construction purposes, was addressed to the Ministry of Cults (Ștefănescu, 1870;Popescu-Voitești, 1911).Afterwards, Ștefănescu (1886) in a paper about the geology of a larger region (The Muscel District), referring to the Eocene sedimentary deposits mentioned 'the coarse limestones full of nummulites and other foraminifera as are those from Cândeşti and Albeşti' (in French:  In the 1960s-1980s, another period of intensive research of sedimentary rocks from this area, the studies made by Bombiță (1963), Grigorescu (1967), Bombiță et al. (1977Bombiță et al. ( , 1980)), Bombiţă & Rusu (1981), Ștefănescu et al. (1983) brought new results.According to Bombiță et al. (1977Bombiță et al. ( , 1980)), overall, what was called as the Albeşti Limestone/Albeşti Stone was the bioclastic limestones sedimented in a coastal environment.Their age is Ypresian-Lower Lutetian.In one of the largest quarries, the authors distinguished three levels of limestone with a total thickness of about 25 m, as follows: (i) the lower level (10-12 m in thickness), characterized by blueish grey limestones with 5-6% quartz, detachable in large blocks; they contain coralline algae; (ii) the middle level (5-6 m in thickness) consisting of porous limestones (with 5-8% quartz) of yellowish-light grey to reddish colour.It is the richest in fossils: large foraminifera (Nummulites, Operculina, Assilina, Discocyclina), molluscs, echinoids, algae, fish teeth, etc.; (iii) the upper level (7-8 m in thickness) composed of greyish white limestones with 3% quartz, Figure 3. Geological map of the study area compiled from Gheuca and Dinică (1986) and Ștefănescu et al. (1965, 1983) with minor revisions.containing large foraminifera (Nummulites) and fragments of mollusc shells.
Among the largest quarries in the Albeşti-Cândeşti area, it was one, known as the Old Quarry, located in the central part of the Albeşti village (Figure 5

Stone quarrying and carving
Since ancient times in Câmpulung and its surrounding areas, the stone was used for construction.
Archaeological discoveries show that the Albesti Limestone is one of the rocks used for the construction of the Roman camp from Jidava (also named Jidova) (2nd to 3rd centuries A.D.), located 2 km south of the Câmpulung town (Petolescu & Cioflan, 1995).Later on, in the Middle Ages, the tombstone of Laurencius de Longo Campo, a former ruler of the town, who died in 1300, was carved in Albești Limestone (Răuțescu, 1943).During the next centuries, the Albeşti Limestone has continued to be used in buildings (e.g.churches and monasteries, public and private palaces, monuments, mansions, houses).Furthermore, the old stone crosses (epigraphic documents placed mainly at crossroads), for which the town is well known, were carved from the same limestone (Pârnuță & Trâmbaciu, 1999).
The stone carvers from Albeștii de Muscel area were mentioned during the rule of Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia between 1688-1714 (Giurescu, 1957;Lahovari et al., 1898).In the census from 1838, the village of Albești had 420 inhabitants, of which 14 were stone carvers (Cojocaru & Gava, 2001).In 1864, following a field visit to this area, the above-mentioned professor Gregoriu Ștefănescu, observed that only a few inhabitants were working in the quarrying.However, up to 1870, the number of workers has increased being around 30-40 workers in the stone quarries (Ștefănescu, 1870).The limestone extraction was also mentioned by Cretzulescu (1876) in his study containing a general description of Romania.Popovici-Hatzeg (1896) mentioned numerous quarries too (in the zone of Strigoiu Valley) (Maps B and D).Toward the end of the nineteenth century, there were 14 active quarries, in which worked about 100 people, part of them (mainly the stonemasons) being Italians (Alessandrescu, 1893).
The limestone was extracted from many sites in and around Albești village.The old topographic and geological maps (Table 1 and Figure 2) indicate a few mining sites in this area.Some old quarries are still visible in the present landscape (as it can be seen in Figure 5(a,b)).During our study, we delimited them by using a field survey and both detailed aerial imagery and Digital Surface Model (Map D).Many quarries took the name of their owner.For example, Bombiță et al. (1977) noted two large quarries: Comănescu Quarry (or the Old Quarry) and Mățăoanu-Gava-Voicu Stan Quarry, both of them in the centre of the Albești village.Other quarries, such as Piatra de Moară Quarry, Bonca Quarry and Fântâna Pietrilor Quarry, were named in a paper of Popescu-Voitești (1909).
Among the three levels of limestones described above (Section 4.2.), the middle level consists of limestones with higher porosity and friability than those from the other two levels.Therefore, the most sought for carving was the upper level and the lower one.A large number of limestone blocks were transported in the country.For instance, in order to facilitate their transport, Matei Drăghiceanu, the first mining engineer/engineering geologist in Romania (Ilie, 1969b), had a stone deposit near the railway station in Câmpulung (Țicăloiu, 1992).Some of the stone blocks were carved locally in Albești and Câmpulung (Nițu, 2016).Moreover, there were stone carvers who worked in the quarries as can be seen in the photos presented in Figure 6(a-c).The three photos, published here with the permission of the National Heritage Institute, were taken in 1965 in one of these quarries.

The Albeşti Limestone -a significant heritage stone
Throughout history, the Albeşti Limestone was quarried both for building and ornamental stone.It has been used in the construction of a great number of public buildings, monuments, houses, etc.Some of them were built almost entirely of Albești Limestone (Albești Stone), while others were either cladded with it or used for entrance stairs, columns, balustrades, window frames, etc.The Albești Limestone was used in the architectural heritage of the Câmpulung town and other many localities in Romania (Bucharest, Iaşi, Curtea de Argeş, Ploieşti, Râmnicu Vâlcea, etc.) (Maps E, F and G).
Up to now, we have identified 368 buildings and other constructions in which the Albeşti Limestone was used, of which, a high number (namely 204 of them) are on the List of Historical Monuments of Romania (Ministry of Culture, Annex to the Ministerial Order No. 2828/2015, in Force since 15 February 2016).Map G indicates the localities (Administrative Territorial Units -ATUs) in which this limestone was used in at least one historical monument; there are 41 ATUs on this map.Below, some examples of such historical monuments are given.
The location of historical monuments of Câmpulung-Albești-Cândești area is shown in the Map B. As regards the village of Albeşti, limestone has been used in many constructions.Probably the most known building is the Comănescu House, built in the middle of the nineteenth century by Italian stonemasons.It still is property of the Comănescu family which, at the beginning of the twentieth century, had a stone quarry nearby.To note that in the villages of Albeşti and Cândeşti, many monuments and crosses along roadsides used the same stone.
Concerning the Câmpulung town, it is to mention that from a total number of 74 historical monuments (Ministry of Culture, 2016), 59 are sites in which the Albeşti Limestone was used.Their location is shown in Map E. The historical town (13th to 20th centuries) of Câmpulung is also on this list of national heritage.The limit of the historical town is partially shown in Map E too.In the town of Câmpulung, many emblematic constructions are built, at least partially, with Albești Limestone.The oldest piece carved in Albești Limestone is the tombstone of Laurencius de Longo Campo, from 1300, which is inside of Saint Jacob Catholic Church (Bărăția).Public buildings have also exterior walls, stairs and handrails carved in Albești Limestone, which are visual elements that define the Many buildings from the interwar period of the twentieth century bear the signature of the architect Dimitrie Ionescu-Berechet (Ionescu-Berechet & Ionescu, 2013), buildings in which the Albești Limestone was usually used.These include the Technical High School (ex-Girls School), Oprea Iorgulescu School, Iancu Anastase Mansion, the Public Garden fence, and many others.
Stone crosses carved in Albești Limestone are located both on roadsides and in cemeteries.The experts of the Câmpulung Municipal Museum inventoried 37 stone crosses across the town of Câmpulung, 17 of them being placed near churches (Nițu & Safta, 2018).Those that were declared historical monuments (namely 22 of them) are indicated in the Map F. The best known is the Oath Cross (Crucea Jurământului in Romanian) from 1673, next to which the elected leader was sworn in as mayor (historical monument no.41 in Map E).Nowadays, the cross is located within a house wall.More than a century later, in 1790, a new cross (Crucea Pârgarilor in Romanian), standing in the Central Square (historical monument no.40 in Map E), took over the purpose of the old cross.
It is noteworthy to mention that the Albeşti Limestone was used in the construction of many iconic buildings/monuments across the country.Among them, one is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Built at the end of the seventeenth century, during the rule of Constantin Brâncoveanu, the Horezu Monastery (Romanii de Jos village, Horezu town, Vâlcea County) (Figure 8  As other examples of historical monuments in which Albeşti Stone was used, we enumerate the To summarise, the Albeşti Limestone/Stone has been used in the construction of an impressive number of public buildings, monuments, houses, etc., across the country; a lot of them are on the List of Historical Monuments of Romania (Maps E, F and G).To note that most of these monuments were designed (or restored) either by local architects or by foreign architects, or by a team of local and foreign architects.Amongst them we mention: Alexandru Săvulescu, Petre Antonescu, Dimitrie Ionescu-Berechet, André Lecomte du Noüy, Paul Gattereau.
Taking into account the above presented data, it can be stated that the Albeşti Limestone is a heritage stone of national significance.It is noteworthy to point out that our results lead us to evidence that the Albeşti Limestone represents both an important geological heritage and cultural heritage.Moreover, taking into consideration the data presented in Section 4 of the paper, it seems that the Albeşti Limestone has most of the characteristics of a Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR), as was defined by Heritage Stone Subcommission (HSS) (former Heritage Stone Task-Group), a subcommission of the International Commission on Geoheritage (ICG) of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) (Cooper, 2010(Cooper, , 2015(Cooper, , 2019;;De Wever et al., 2017;Freire-Lista & Fort, 2019;Kaur et al., 2021;Pereira et al., 2015).
In order to highlight the characteristics of the Albeşti Limestone compared with those required for a Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR), we synthetized them in Table 2.
According to Cooper (2019), 'to be designed as a GHSR, stones must have most of the characteristics' we present in Table 2 (left column).As can be viewed in this table, the Albeşti Limestone fulfils most of these required characteristics.Therefore, the Albeşti Limestone is a natural stone resource that could be seen as a possible GHSR; it could be a GHSR proposal.For this purpose, more data and further research are necessary.

Discussion
This work explores and documents the Eocene limestones from the area of the Albeşti village (Argeş County, Romania) in terms of the relationship between geology, geoheritage and cultural heritage.
Although the first studies on these limestones had been published in the second half of the nineteenth century, even today they are of interest for researchers (e.g.Kövecsi et al., 2020).Taking into consideration the great scientific value of the Eocene nummulitic limestones, in 1954, in the zone of an old quarry, a protected natural area was established under the name of the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve.It is a nature reserve of geological and palaeontological interest.-Used in many iconic monuments, some representative of the Brâncoveanu style in architecture, a style that appeared at the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century in Wallachia (Southern Romania) 5. Ongoing availability of material for quarrying -All the quarries are closed.However, as it can be seen in Figure 4(a), there is still material for quarrying (except perhaps for the upper level of the Eocene deposits) 6. Potential benefits (cultural, scientific, architectural, environmental and/ or commercial arising from GHSR designation) -Designation of Albeşti Limestone as GHSR will support the preservation and conservation both of geoheritage and cultural heritage linked to it.Also, its designation as GHSR will contribute to raising awareness about the importance of this stone in architectural heritage of Romania a The requirements of the Heritage Stone Subcommission of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) for a Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR) recognition (Cooper, 2019).
Commonly known as the Albeşti Limestone/ Albeşti Stone, these bioclastic limestones (Bombiță et al., 1977(Bombiță et al., , 1980) ) have been extracted for centuries from many sites in and around the Albeşti village.Even if there is no more mining activity in the area, some edges and benches of the quarries are still visible in the present landscape.In order to identify and delimit the boundaries of the old quarry sites, we employed flights using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to produce both high-resolution imagery and a Digital Terrain Model/Digital Surface Model.The obtained orthophotos cover 2.59 km 2 .According to Panizza and Piacente (2009), the landscape may be seen as a cultural component of a territory with all the natural and anthropogenic elements it contains.It is to note that the Old Quarry in which the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve is located (Figure 5(a,b); Map D), itself is evidence both of the past stone quarrying in the study area and the origin of stone used in constructions.Knowing the provenience of stones is essential for restoration of buildings and monuments (Přikryl & Török, 2010).
The Albeşti Limestone was quarried both for dimension and ornamental stone.It has been used in the construction of an impressive number of public buildings, monuments, houses etc., across the country.A high number of them are on the List of Historical Monuments of Romania (Ministry of Culture, Annex to the Ministerial Order No. 2828/2015, in Force since 15 February 2016, n.d.).Among the historical monuments, there are many iconic buildings such as the Horezu Monastery (Romanii de Jos village, Horezu town, Vâlcea County) (Figure 8 By its characteristics (e.g.rock colour ranging from grey to yellow and reddish), the Albeşti Limestone imprinted a unique feature in the Câmpulung-Albești natural and urban landscape.If we take into account the reach history of the Câmpulung locality and its nearby area, it can be said that the region has tourism potential that could attract tourists.The town of Câmpulung has an amazing historical and architectural heritage that should be made better known to the public.In contrast, the geoheritage of the region is almost unknown by the general public and therefore is little exploited.For this purpose, thematic itineraries linking geoheritage and cultural heritage could be proposed (e.g.Reynard & Giusti, 2018;Corbi et al., 2019;Pelfini et al., 2021).

Conclusions
The paper focuses on the Eocene limestones from the area of the Albeşti village (Argeş County, Romania) as a link, on the one hand, between geology and geoheritage, and on the other hand, between geology and cultural heritage.
During the study, a GIS-based mapping procedure was conducted to build a complex database containing a wide range of information about the Albeşti Limestone.The database was subsequently used for drawing several maps.The fieldwork was carried out in Câmpulung-Albeşti-Cândeşti area and in a great number of other locations in the country.
Up to now, we have inventoried 368 buildings and other constructions in which the Albeşti Limestone was used.A particular attention was paid to those that are on the List of Historical Monuments of Romania.The inventory contains 204 historical monuments from which 59 in the town of Câmpulung, 25 in the city of Bucharest and 122 in other places in Romania.Thus, we found 41 localities (Administrative Territorial Units -ATUs) in which this limestone was used at least in one historical monument (Map G).It is to mention that as a result of the fieldwork, we identified the Albeşti Limestone in a significant number of constructions (part of them belonging to the Historical Heritage of Romania) which were not known to contain this stone.This is the first study to present: (i) the physiographic and heritage map of the Câmpulung-Albeşti-Cândeşti area showing the boundaries of protected natural areas and the location of the historical monuments in which the Albeşti Limestone was used (Map B); (ii) two maps (Map E of the Câmpulung town, and Map F of the Bucharest city) indicating the name and the location of historical monuments in which the Albeşti Limestone was used; (iii) a map of Romania showing the localities (ATUs) in which this limestone was used in at least one historical monument (Map G).Our study is also first to provide a high-resolution DSM of the area with old quarries of the Albeşti village from which the limestone was extracted (Map D).
The results of this work emphasize that the Albeşti Limestone represents both an important geoheritage and cultural heritage.The study highlights the Albeşti Limestone as a heritage stone of national significance, showing, for the first time, that it also presents most of the characteristics of a Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR) as it was defined by the Heritage Stone Subcommission (International Commission on Geoheritage) of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) (Cooper, 2010(Cooper, , 2015(Cooper, , 2019) ) (Table 2).
Further work is needed to identify other historical monuments in which the Albești Limestone was used.Also, further research is required to put together the knowledge about the geoheritage, the stone extraction and carving, and the historical and archaeological heritage, in order to support the conservation of the heritage sites, to inform the general public and to propose geocultural itineraries.

Software
The maps were drawn in ArcGIS 10.8, except the geological map which was drawn in Ocad Profesional.The final map was edited and assembled using Corel Draw 2020.The collage of maps was designed in A0 format which corresponds to ISO standard paper size.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Physiographic map of the study area.The inset indicates the location of the study area-black rectangle (SRTM, 2009).

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. a) Eocene limestones occurring in the area of the Albeşti village (Argeş County), on the left slope of the Strigoiu Mare Creek; b) Sample of the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone from the Old Quarry; the nummulites are up to 2.5-3.0 cm across.
(a) and Map D).Taking into consideration the important scientific significance of the Eocene sequences, at the suggestion of geology professor Alexandru Bera, in 1954, here it was established a protected area under the name of Albești Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve, with a surface of 0.34 ha.It is a protected natural area of geological and palaeontological interest.In the same year, also following the professor's advice, other two protected areas (natural monuments) were established, namely the Albești Granite and the Suslănești Fossiliferous Point (Hurdubețiu et al., 1974) (Map B and C).Nowadays, all three are protected by Law no.5/2000 (Legea 5/2000), with later modifications and completions.According to Annex 3 of this law, the surface of the Albești Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve is of 1.5 ha.The recent proposal made by the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas (in Romanian: Agenţia Naţională pentru Arii Naturale Protejate -ANANP) increases the surface of the nature reserve to 2.036 ha. Figure 5(a) shows one of the UAV-based images of the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve we obtained, on which the proposed boundary of the protected area is drawn.Figure 5(b) shows the same boundary drawn on DSM map containing the area of nature reserve.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. a) UAV-based aerial image (view to the northeast), taking in February 2022, showing the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve (Albeşti village, Argeş County); b) Digital Surface Model in the area of the Albeşti Nummulitic Limestone Nature Reserve.The green line indicates the recently proposed boundary of the nature reserve by the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas.

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.a) to c) Stone carvers working, in 1965, in one of the limestone quarries of the Albeşti village (Argeș County).Source of the photos: Library Stock Photo of the National Heritage Institute, Collection of the Historical Monuments Commission, File no.1043, photos no. 12, 13 and 14; author: Radu Creţeanu.
(a)) is since 1993 on the UNESCO World Heritage List (cultural site) (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/597).Regarding the famous Cathedral of Curtea de Argeș (Curtea de Argeș Monastery; Curtea de Argeș town, Argeș County)build at the beginning of the sixteenth century, under the ruler of Neagoe Basarab, Prince of Wallachia (1512-1521) and completed (in 1526) by his successor, Radu de la Afumaţi (1522-1529)it is cladded with limestones coming from the Albeşti quarries; the outside ornaments are also made of the Albeşti Stone (Figure 8(b)).It is also the case for another beautiful monastery, the Monastery of the Three Hierarchs (Mănăstirea Trei Ierarhi in Romanian), located in the city of Iaşi (Iaşi County) (Map G).The monastery was built between 1637 and 1639 by Vasile Lupu, the ruler of Moldavia (1634-1653).

Figure 7 .
Figure 7. Examples of Historical Monuments in the town of Câmpulung (Argeş County) for which the Albeşti Limestone was used: a) Town Hall; b) Municipal Library; c) Matei Drăghiceanu Mansion; d) Matei Drăghiceanu Mansion -detail showing the facade made up of Albeşti Stone.

Table 1 .
Maps and other cartographic data used in this study.
gence Agency of the Army (in Romanian: Agenția de Informații Geospațiale a Apărării General de Divizie Constantin Barozzi).

Table 2 .
Characteristics of the Albeşti Limestone (Argeş County, Romania) compared with those required for a Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR).